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Poverty and Power

Poverty, tenacity, inventiveness and ingenuity make an interesting combination and provides a number of people their meagre day to day living. In two days of staying at Surabaya, I have seen the various ways of making a living especially for those in the wrong end of the society's spectrum.

It started to rain yesterday when we were waiting for our car, other people started gathering at the foyer unable to get to their cars. And not a moment sooner, a bunch of kids turned up with umbrellas offering their umbrella services for whoever who wanted to use them for a small token fee. The rain was a bit sudden and surprisingly these kids have been ready for quite a while, otherwise they would not have turned up like ants when you unknowingly drop something sweet on the floor. Other ways of making money include the obvious selling newspapers and other what nots to drivers when their cars are stuck at the traffic lights; and helping to look after your cars when parked - a protection service.

Another interesting way was the singing with guitars at drivers. I thought this was fairly useless as most cars have got their windows wound up and can barely hear the singing. And besides you are only at the traffic light for a couple of minutes at most and even if you do request for a song, which I am sure those kids would not know, you would have move on. My officer's husband remarked that the fee they wanted to collect is to make them go away - a go-away fee! The kids figure if they annoy someone long enough, they might get a few cents. Do this the whole day, it might make a living for them. According to our driver, these people can make around Rp40,000 ($8) on a bad day. Mind you when graduates earn around Rp3,000,000 ($600) a month, $8 a bad is not too bad.

The one I have not yet seen is the help to carry your bags service. I saw this in Islamabad when kids and even adult men offer to carry your shopping for you for a very small fee. I have not been here long enough, I might see that.

I find it sad that a large powerful country like Indonesia are seen as a poor country. It is not easy looking after 200 million people with a large gap between the haves and the have-nots. In our region, we may need someone who can stand up for us. A country that we can depend on should things go wrong. It is a pity that Indonesia cannot play that role yet. Maybe one day I hope it will.

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Ecomomics 101: A large gap between the rich and poor is the sign of a very bad economy.

My cousin goes fishing up near Sumatra every now and again, and once they were held up by pirates. After negotiating a good 'safety' fee, the pirates put down their guns and everyone had lunch together.

DESPITE first making its appearance in the Sultanate during the 1940s, Kuih Mor continues to be a household favourite today as a tea time snack or festive treat particularly during Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

Siti Norhafizah Hj Bagol, a final year student at Universiti Brunei Darussalam who researched on Kuih Mor as part of her Brunei Traditional Industry module, said the three-ingredient sweet treat may have existed in Brunei as early as the 1940s when padi was known to have been grown to make different food items.

Over time, the cookie has also become a popular door-gift choice often handed out at Malay weddings or gatherings, said Siti Norhafizah.

Made with flour, oil and granulated sugar which have been ground into a powder, the bite-sized biscuits have a crumbly texture and are coated with powdered sugar.

The age-old technique of making Kuih Mor by hand has however changed over the course of time, with many now opt…

BY COMMAND of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, the Prime Minister’s Office hereby announces that His Majesty has consented to the transfer and appointment of the following senior officers – Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Juanda bin Haji Abdul Rashid, Permanent Secretary (Law and Welfare) at the Prime Minister’s Office as well as the Director of Anti-Corruption Bureau and Solicitor General has been transferred to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports; and Datin Elinda binti Haji CA Mohamed, Special Senior Duties Officer, Ministry of Home Affairs has been appointed as Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office and Director of Anti-Corruption Bureau.